World Cup Football and the Real Story Behind Images

[Mike McCarty]

I was reading a story on World Cup flopping and stumbled across an article about how cropping or zooming in on an image can totally change the story of what is happening.

You can tell a story with an image that is completely different than reality.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jul/05/diego-maradona-belgium-famous-photo

In the pantheon of great World Cup photographs there is one which, in common perception at least, stands above the rest. It is the image of Diego Maradona being confronted by six Belgium players at the 1982 World Cup.

If ever a photograph encapsulates a player's genius, this is surely it. It is a simple snapshot which, on face value, showcases Maradona's audacity and the opposition's utter terror at the prospect of facing him; terror exemplified by the sheer numbers they had apparently dispatched to mark him. Or such is the myth.

[Jan Hall]

Thanks for sharing this - a fascinating article.

[Amit]

Thanks for the article. Actually, when I look at the photograph closely, I can tell it is not really happening during the game but during the setup of a free kick because there's really no reason for 6 defensive players to clump up closely like that :) but the photograph is simply great because of its composition.

[Mike McCarty]

@lambda I usually just watch soccer once every four years and rarely longer than group play. Because of that I would have no idea it was after a free kick. Knowledge certainly flavors how you see pictures.